The Last play of Friday night's Yankee game

For anyone who watched the entire Yankee vs. Met game Friday night you probably all know the play I am talking about. With the Yankees down by a run and two outs in the bottom of the ninth with men on first and second A Rod hits a pop up which is dropped by the Mets seccond baseman allowing two runs to score. This gave the Yankees a dramatic win. I just wanted to break this play down because it says a lot about different ways that the game of baseball is played.
It is easy to point the finger at Louis Castillo, the second baseman, for dropping the pop up partially due to the fact that he did not use two hands. That is just little league stuff, you get under the ball and use one hand to help shut your glove around the ball when the time comes. He is not the only player who needs to be analyzed during this crazy play, you can also look at the role that Texiera, the runner on first, and Arod, the batter played.
For Mark Texiera to score on this pop up is just astounding to me. He hustled on contact, meaning he took off in a full sprint the seccond that Arod made contact. This is also something that we learn in little league, when there are two outs you are supposed to run once someone hits the ball regardless of whether it looks like an out or a base hit. The number of players who actually put in this effort seems to be constantly shrinking. Players who may slow to a trot when the ball appears catchable are just all too common. Tex broke that trend by hustling the whole way through the play.
A Rod's role in this play has not been the topic of much conversation but I still do feel that it needs to be looked at. The second he made contact with the ball he angrily threw his bat and took a slow trot. Another little league mistake that way too many professional ball players make, you should always hustle out of the batters box even if at first it may look like an easy out. For the money that A Fraud is getting paid can we please see some hustle out of the batters box?

The start of Summer

A lot of people have a single event that they can point to that marks the 'official' beginning of their summer season. For some it is the first time they have to mow their lawn or start the planting of veggies in the back yard. For me the start of summer is marked by an event that occurs every year on the first Saturday of June. It happens out on Long Island where spectators come to watch the third leg of the triple crown, the Belmont Stakes.
The race itself is great every year as there is no telling which horse will win. Over the past six years I have seen favorites, long shots, and marginal horses win the third jewel of the triple crown. Never a triple crown winner in the past six year but hopefully that day will come sooner rather than later. I was never a huge horse racing fan until going to my first Belmont in 2004 where I saw Birdstone with a burst of late speed go on to beat Smarty Jones who was running for the crown. It didn't hurt that I won 160 bucks on that race but watching that horse take off late was just incredible.
The first Saturday in June really is more than just a day for great horse racing but instead a chance to grill burgers have some beers and spend time with friends. The relaxed feel in the parking lot is really what summer is all about to me. People just sitting back relaxing and soaking in the fun that is taking place all around them. The past couple of years have been even better experiences due to the terrific weather that has occurred on race day.
The race yesterday was another great one with the three favorites; Mine that bird, Dunkirk, and Charitable Man battling it out in the last 50 yards of the longest leg of the triple crown. These three only had their dreams broken by 11-1 shot Summer Bird who passed them all to win the 2009 Belmont Stakes. I can't say that I was too pleased to see Summer Bird pass the three favorites because I would have won a lot more money if things had stayed the way they were before that horse passed the three leaders. All was not lost though because my mom had money on Summer Bird to win it.
All in all the race was not the best part of the day, it was being around good friends and having a great time for the official start to my summer.

Why I admire Vince McMahon

Though I wouldn't mind the disposable income there are other things that I really respect about Vince McMahon. This man created an empire known as the WWE. The WWE is so huge and has such a large following built up over the years and I give 100% credit for this to Vince and his actions as owner of the league. Some owners and creators of leagues are just greedy and rely on people around them to get things done but not Vince. He has such a level of creative thinking that you really never know what is going to come next.
The latest news with Vince came where he had reserved an arena in Denver for a Monday night show but was told he could not have the arena due to a Denver Nugget playoff game that would take place even though he had a contract to use the arena for that night. At this point Vince was faced with a choice; he could mope away and act disappointed that he had to move his event or he could make a show out of it.
Vince took the later root in taking shots at the owner of the Pepsi center, E. Stan Kronke. He held an interview on ESPN where he stated that Kronke should be arrested for interpreting a good business man. To add insult to injury Vince moved his event to the home of the LA Lakers who are playing the Denver Nuggets. Was Vince done? No. He hired an actor to play Mr. Kronke and come out to the ring to open up the Monday night show. He made fun of Kronke having an initial as a first name and not having faith in his NBA team to do well in the playoffs. He then stated that when you push the WWE fans around the WWE pushes back as he proceeded to push Kronke out of the ring.
Vince took what could have been a let down to his organization and turned it into a chance to gain press attention and turn it against the Nugget ownership. I admire anyone who can be so creative and turn a possible negative situation into such a positive.

Walk off Weekend for the Yankees

This past weekend the Twins came into Yankee stadium and it was one of the most entertaining weekend series that I can remember in a long time. It wasn't the fact that the Yankees managed to win three games in a row but it was in the style that they did so. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were all classic games. To make this series even more memorable for me I was able to make the Friday night and Sunday afternoon games.
Friday was a game where the Yankees looked somewhat flat and they didn't appear to have much of a chance to win through the first five or six innings. The player who had the most to do with the Yankees winning this game would be Brett Gardner. In the seventh the Yankees were down 4-1 where a hit by Brett took a funny bounce which he took advantage of to produce a no doubt about it- inside the park home run. Gardner is so fast that he really did not have to slide into home plate as he could have made it in standing with time to spare. In the ninth inning Gardner led off the game with a triple, giving the Yankees the spark they needed to start up the three run ninth inning needed to win the game. Melky Cabrera won the game with a walk off single.
Sundays game was a game where you had the feeling throughout that it was going to come down to one big hit, which it did. Pitching was key for both teams as AJ Burnett and Kevin Slowey worked their way out of jams up until the seventh inning where both pitchers gave up two runs. After the seventh inning there were several blown opportunities by both teams where the Yankees and Twins both left several runners in scoring position. The game ended in the bottom of the tenth with a walk off home run from Johnny Damon.
I can not remember the last time there were three consecutive walk off wins for the Yankees. In a season where I am somewhat down on the team in the way they were put together in a poor fashion and the organization forgot about their true fans the events of this weekend helped to peek my interest in them once again. How can you not be intrigued when there are walk offs left and right?

Craigslist says it will drop 'erotic services' ads

While looking through some news articles today I came across the fact that craigslist will soon be dropping its erotic services ad section of the web page. There has been pressure to do this due to the recent violent acts that have taken place over the past few weeks where individuals have met on the adult section of craigslist and led to violent crimes being committed. I can totally see why craigslist is making this move due to the increased pressure from individuals but the question I ask is, do you really think that this move by craigslist will do enough to curve to problem of people meeting online and violent acts taking place?
My answer to that question is an obvious no. What this move by craigslist will do is make it more difficult for people to find a free area to meet others. In this age of the quickly changing internet I am sure there will be some creep more than happy to fill the hole that craigslist used to fill in adding an erotic services section to their web page.
The answer to this growing problem is that people need to better understand the dangers of the internet and use it in a safe way. If you have any questions about what is safe internet usage, a page like this is a good place to start in your search for more information. The fact that craigslist is taking down this section is not an answer to the problem we are having, it is a start but as long as we don't see this as a final solution but as a start towards a solution we are on the right track.

Ohio Christian school tells student to skip prom

While looking at the news this morning there was one story that caught my attention. The story is about a 17 year old boy who was told by his Christian school that he would receive incomplete grades on the remainder of his assignments and not be allowed to walk during graduation. Before the start of the school year the student did sign a form that set certain rules in place for the upcoming year but how much should that apply to a student's out of class activities?
This school in Ohio sees rock music as "part of the counterculture which seeks to implant seeds of rebellion in young people's hearts and minds." You can see by this example that even though this school is a private institution that has a right to make their own rules, they take it to a new extreme level. From someone who went to a private high school I can understand them having tougher rules against drugs and alcohol but having rules against certain kids of music, hand holding, and kissing is just another story.
I really don't feel that raising kids in such a sheltered environment is the best way to go about it. Eventually, whether the parents like it or not, the kids will be exposed to the real world and certain things that you may be trying to hide them from. If you gradually let your kids experience certain aspects of life they will be a lot less shocked when they one day have to live in the real world.
This student has even expressed the fact that he understands the dangers of alcohol and sex on prom night but that did not seem to be enough to appease the principal and members of the school board. Proms are part of the normal high school lives for a great number of high school students and there is no reason to think that this student should not be allowed to go to a prom, even if he does go to a school with some harsher rules.

Baseball Fans in the tough economy

One of my favorite topics to read about has anything to do with baseball and how it relates to the business world. The article that I saw in today's Wall Street Journal has to do with exactly this and how some fans are taking advantage of tough economic times. The gist of the article is the fact that some teams are doing more to make the experience more enjoyable for the season ticket holders, something that I feel is long overdue.
Just think about it for a minute, how devoted do you have to be to buy all 61 home games on your favorite team's schedule? The answer to that is that you have to be a huge fan who if you ask me may deserve a little extra based on your devotion to the home team. Some of the benefits that teams may offer are earlier entrance times into the ball park so that the season ticket holders can have a chance to take in some extra batting practice. Another common benefit being offered to the season ticket holders are meet and greet sessions with the players.
Times are tough right now and it is about time for some of these organizations to realize that the business they are still getting is coming from some of the most loyal fans in the world, the season ticket holders.